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more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now this shaker vanity cabinet is a special buy at just one hundred, ninety-nine dollars. call (star star)thd to shop now. good evening. i'm chris matthews live from the newseum in washington where all day festivals have marked the second inauguration of barack obama. it began with a church service early this morning. but the celebration is far from over. the inaugural parade itself is currently under way and the first family is watching from the viewing stand just outside the white house. early this afternoon the president sent crowds along

pennsylvania avenue wild when he and the first lady got out of the motorcade and walked several blocks waving to the crowds. it was a rare close-up look for many. the highlight was the president's inaugural address way was powerful and, i believe, lincolnesque. he called for an end to perpetual wars and gave a historic shout out to gay rights. on many fronts the president said it was time to act. >> for now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay. we must act knowing that our work will be imperfect. we must act knowing that today's victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare philadelphia hall. >> wow. we've got it all covered this hour. with me right now are four msnbc political experts, joy reid,

howard fineman, eugene robinson and former rnc chairman michael steele. i want everybody to get -- we've been watching this all day most people, so i want something that just stuns me is the close up look, you first, joy, of the first family. this incredibly attractive family sitting next to the bidens. everybody thinks we see these guys every day around here. look at this picture, the way they're acting like people. >> i love watching them interact. i love watching joe biden all the time, but watching the first family. >> he's chewing something. is that nick korette? >> i mom used to love diahann carroll because she said that's the way a black pom should be p portrayed. michelle obama is so iconic. she's the combination of the woman next door but such a style icon and a jackie o. figure for african-americans. watching her interact with the kids. watching this family that are at once so normal but in a way sort

of grand. they are sort of kennedy-like. i just love it and i just love watching it and to people i have spoken with that are here are so consumed. african-americans are so proud of -- >> i think this is one of the most important legacies of the obama presidency, that visual images are so powerful. >> look at him right now. >> so see an african-american family charmingly filling the roles of head of state, first family of the united states. to see them walk across the white house lawn and get on the helicopter to go to camp david or to see them there in the reviewing stand and watch the girls interact with their friends. these images i think change the machinery in our heads, and they give us a view of what is possible in this country that we didn't have before. they teach us something about ourselves. >> and the jason sedekis version

of the vice president. >> he's in his element, like his moment with al roker on the parade route. where he steps out of the role of vice president and the formality of the parade to shake hands and say hello. that also, i think, you know, humanizes moments like this, that connects us and brings us closest to this administration and to its leaders. you know, unfortunately, tomorrow the hard work begins and we hope some of this rubs off. i have to take a little issue if i could, chris, for a moment with republicans who were very vocal about staying out of washington this weekend and not -- >> how about mitt romney? where is he? >> i just don't think that's the mood -- >> he said he wouldn't watch today. >> howard, you know, i always say when i go to a party and i don't know somebody they're a billionaire. the people you don't know are the rich people. i'm looking at the people behind him. i don't recognize a single face. they must be contributors,

right, in the reviewing stand? who are those people? >> there are a probably a few. i can think of a lot of political things to say right now, but i would rather focus on this family. >> on the schmaltz. >> yeah, why not. >> go for it. >> i think they have done a terrific job of being themselves in a very difficult role. now having been re-elected, having been reaffirmed by the american people in the role as the first family in an odd way we were voting on them as first family. and the american people said, you know what? we may disagree with him on policy and we don't trust him on social security, whatever, but we kind of like that family. we kind of trust that family, and that's -- >> how did they do it? >> by working very hard at being normal. >> right. >> as joy said, stylish, but normal. and i think to see them so comfortable now is a reflection not only of them but of the

country. whatever else you want to say, whatever other arguments we're going to have about entitlements, about war, about medicare, about medicaid, it's not going to be about having an african-american first family because they have done it so beautifully. and by the way, to have walked the tightrope of race the way they have, having come up as baby boomers in the affirmative action era when people thought, hey, wait a minute, maybe they don't deserve it, they've got to prove themselves, barack and michelle have proved themselves into that sense and proved themselves also as parents. i think every signal -- my kids went to the same school their kids are attending. every word you hear is they're dedicated parents. they go to the meetings, they do it all right, they cross the "t"s, dot the "i"s. that's beyond politics and yet it's the essence of america. >> and the ole story i have heard from african-americans is the bar keeps being raised on you all the time. >> if you're going to be the first black anything, then

you're going to be held to a higher standard. mr. chairman -- >> it's very true. >> and, you know, that's the way we were taught growing up, so if that's the way it is, that's the way it is. >> objectively, forget ethnicity for two seconds, the guy won everything on scholarships pretty much. he went to the best schools in the country, columbia and on to harvard law. he becomes editor of the harvard law review in a blind test. nobody knew -- there's no affirmative action here. blind test. you were the guy that had the best writings, the best research, the best scholarship to get the job. and then he comes back and instead of being a money grubber on wall street, excuse me money grubbers on wall street, he decides he's going to do something for his community where he came from. and then he runs for office, gets beaten by bobby rush and then he gets in a car and drives out to the burbs and lets them

decide. >> michelle obama did the same thing. she resented princeton a lot when she got there but she channeled her resentment in a paper about the history of african-american women. the fact they worked within the system given the challenges that they had to have gotten to this place and to be the calming influence that they are i think is remarkable. >> calming, mosh care calm than. >> low bar. low bar. but with an inner fire though. you know -- . >> they proved themselves. >> there's stuff going on beneath the calm. >> look at him there. mr. calm. cool hand luke and you have to ask yourself, how did he know he could get re-elected a certain way? how did he know to trust david plouffe, to trust axelrod, his air game, his ground game. he never seemed -- >> that was one of the secrets having covered both of his campaigns, one of the secrets to

the success of both of his campaigns was his refusal to panic. >> yeah. >> and any moment he trusted the people he brought aboard from the very beginning, some of whom were sitting with him. people like david axelrod and robert gibbs who were with him at the beginning of his career were ten feet away from him. he stuck with the same people and listened to them and he never panicked. >> do you know what he did at the dinner -- >> he probably didn't panic enough at the first debate. >> i was sitting behind him after the first debate didn't go well and he said i'm going to mention it, he took a little shot at me and then he comes back and says calm down, i got this. where is that from? after the first debate. calm down, i got this. >> that's a great line. have you said that on the air before? >> no, and i just did. >> that would summarizes it. >> i was going to say it's a reliance on data that i think is important because we're in an age of unreasonable in a lot of

ways. i think one of the things people also like about barack obama is he reaffirms what we tell young people we want them to do and to be. to give back, to rely on data, to not go from the gut which we had in a previous president. but i just wanted to say real quick -- >> sf that where that war came from? >> i think unfortunately, yes. but you were talking before about all the things that barack obama did. i think to put a reminder, a lot of that was mocked. it was mocked he was a community organizer. the idea he was a professor -- >> organization. >> organization and data. >> take that, sarah palin. we're watching him again. i think the staggering thing in our democracy is a couple things. given all the dangers we live in in our society, of course, from gunfire, it's just part of our life now. presidents have been shot at, we know it. there he was out there, the secret service, they figured out a way to let the president get out of the car a couple times and connected with people at fairly close range, and, you know, you guys and i grew up where you actually, howard, where we're used to being able to drive by the white house.

>> yeah. >> the sad reality now is everybody went through a magnetometer to get on the parade rate. that's how they did it. you could not just casually walk up to pennsylvania avenue. >> better that. >> and if the result is a sense of unity in the country, so much the better. >> you have to go through a magnetometer to go to the bill maher show. >> that makes sense. >> of that does make sense. >> tllt they are again. that's the oldest daughter. >> malia. >> that's malia. >> who is at sidwell and i guess doing well. i was saying so joy, i know washington. when it gets dull in this town, it's all going to be who is the prom date? what's coming up? will we have a wedding in the white house. probably too soon for that. >> half 69 stories you're going to hear about that are from the president who loves to play the role of the -- >> robertde niro.

>> overprotective father. he said anybody who wants to date my daughters, if they can make it through the secret service, i have to give them my attention. >> he he like robert de niro and the polygraph test? >> i pity the poor young man of who comes to sit in the parlor. he will also carve them up with a little gentle wit. >> what is he knewinchewing? >> nicorette. >> he's re-elected now. either that or he's going to have a stogie. >> we're watching the parade and i said earlier this is one of the great anachronisms of our life. they have gotten ride of the convention demonstrations and the nighttime rallies. what's left is this bit of americana in real life, joy.

these are people who have come in, stayed at a hotel, probably a two-star, not a lot of money, and they have all come in just to do this for the priz, just for him. >> you have these high school bands, these marching bands. this is a point of real prize for these guys. they're on national television, demonstrating their regional and ethnic pride, and i think it's great. it's sort of a showcase of america. this is one of the few unifying things we do anymore. >> this must be regional. >> he's dancing. you're right, gene. that's his dance. >> anyway, michelle's performance today i think will be talked about for days if not weeks if not years. i know nothing about design. he decided this guy from allentown knows what he's done, thom browne. >> anything she wears, anything michelle obama puts on or buys, whether she picks up something inexpensive from target or she

goes designer, it becomes instantly a huge brand. she's sort of taken over from oprah winfrey, that kind of brand blessing power. it's amazing. >> so this is about nic orette and three-quarter length sleeves. thank you for our panel. you will be sticking with us throughout the hour. this is rare stuff. live coverage of the first family and president obama and his second inaugural. look at these people. this is something to see them this close. how far away is mars? [ dad ] well, it's 141 million miles from the sun, so pretty far. why is it red?

because its surface is made of iron oxide. why do they call it mars? well, it was named after the roman god of war. you're so smart, dad. ♪ did i ever tell you about jupiter? ♪ woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year. for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen.

we're back. what a day it's been. i don't know about party politics, but today about america is a good day. this city i have come to love. i moved here years ago. it is a beautiful city and today the pennsylvania avenue route we've been watching, used to be all waffle shops and firecracker stores. and jack kennedy said to -- move on. he said make it like paris and

it is very much if you ever get to paris it has that kind of look of paris. beautiful thorough fare. there you see all this local stuff of people that come in here by bus from all across the country, nothing fancy, just their best, and all the different ethnicity stuff. it's a great old tradition and it has nothing to do with politics. there's the president's reviewing stand. i want everybody to get in on this again. we've waited a long time to see the relaxed obamas, michael. >> yeah. >> how is your crowd going to like this when they see these people looking so debonair and charming and delightful? >> look, you know -- >> are they going to be mad and jealous. >> no, they're not going to be mad and jealous, no. look, there are people who obviously do not have affection for the president personally, and, you know, even going back to my time as chairman, i made it very clear this is never about anything personal to the president. we're all proud of his accomplishment. i mean for me -- sgroo for you, of course, you're a wonderful person. we're talking about the republican party. >> i think the republican party

by and large, you know, celebrates this day as all americans do because it does speak to our democracy and the transference that occurs after an election and coming together, which this parade represents. >> michael, i think that's nice, but i think you're sugar coating it a little bit. >> let me finish my point. i'm tired of the left and democrats painting the entire republican party with such a broad brush because of a few idiots out there who say stupid stuff like they want to stay out of washington and the like. it's not reflective of the entire party. it's certainly not reflective of those of us who are grat roots activists and believe fundamentally the president is taking the country in the wrong direction. that in this hour we cannot celebrate like the last of america the democracy that is -- >> alex wagner, i have to bring in alex to settle this. is it fair to be stereotypical when discussing the republican party or do you have to be refined and sophisticated and delineate the hard right from the mainstream republican

party -- >> i forget i am -- >> you know, look, i'll say this, chris. many times today i thought, wow, what if today was about mitt romney being sworn in? and the thing about the president's speech was it was such a broad vision for the country. now, you may take issue with the defense of medicare and social security, the pressing need to combat climate change, the notion that gay rights is a civil right, but at the ends of the day it was a huge proposal for america, the road ahead. and my question to myself was what would mitt romney's speech have sounded like? what is the big vision for america from the republican party other than cutting the deficit? other than tackling debt? i don't think we've heard anything articulated on the level that the president did today and certainly in recent months from the right. and so in that way, you know, much respect to the chairman, we are friends and i respect his opinion, but i have not heard anything from the right that would counter the notion that the party is very much -- >> michael needs --

>> but my point isn't on policy. yeah, we're going to disagree -- the president laid out a collectivist agenda today and that's very clear. sgroo a collectivist agenda. >> yeah, where he said the individual can't succeed without the collective and that's just not true in the view of a lot of republicans. but that's not my point. my point was speaking to what howard was raising was that, you know, this broad brush that republicans are right now with their head in their soup lamenting the moment and i'm saying that's not necessarily true across the board. >> collectivist, where would it fit between maoist and trotsky and bolshevik? >> i would put it where a lot of liberal tweeters, some of whom associated with this network were talking about it. >> take the ist off the end of it and you're right. he talked about collective. he used the word -- >> communal. gee did not use ist.

that has a connotation going back to, you know, sort of stalinist labor camps and that's unfair. however, his speech essentially said we're all in this together, and as we support each other, we will get out of this together, we will move forward together, and actually that -- >> of what does the president mean when he says individual freedoms require collective action. >> can i ask a question of all the people here? alex, you first, very quickly, on a scale of one to ten, ten being very partisan, one being pretty much nonpartisan, where would you put the speech today? >> i'd give it a seven. i think you heard a strong defense of the role of government. it was actually the full circle reagan maligned government, clinton triangulated, obama laid out a vision for america. >> i want to get an average. >> i think seven. >> where were you?

>> eight. howard? >> i want to top joy so 8.1. >> michael -- >> i will top all of you, it was nine inching to ten. >> i thought it was totally nonpartisan so it averages out to two. and i thought that when he talked about people who really are skeptical about government, the tea party people, he reached out to them and said some people have sort of a reasonable skepticism about what government can do. he was even nonpartisan with regard to tehran which -- >> i have to disagree. i think he did very little reaching out. >> very little. >> what he said was, look, i honor the tradition of individualism in america, and we have a yin and yang thing in this country that will go on forever. but he also said at this moment, at this time we need to stress one side of that equation. i think he used the line, we could go on with these arguments

for centuries, but right now we don't have the time to argue. i think that's what he said. >> let's get the particulars. he said that we need social security, medicare, and medicaid so that people who are risk takers have something to fall down on, a net. i thought that was fascinating because i have parents, many of us have, who took a lot of risks to educate us. >> that was well-done. >> alex, you jump in here. parents will take risks with money knowing in the end even if they're not rich when they're old, they will have something so they spend all their money on tuition and raising kids. so i thought that was what he was talking about which is really important about our country. your thoughts, alex? >> i think one of the things that's been underdiscussed in terms of how progressive this message was is the foreign policy piece. advocating for engagement against the backdrop of a hostage situation in algeria is a very firm flag to plant in the ground. to say that as we see al qaeda cells multiplying, taking over a

host of failed states in north africa and now west africa. to say these are not our enemies, that we can come in peace, that we can have peaceable relations with evil actors in the world is very much obama 1.0. for him to say that now i thought was really, really remarkable if you're talking about hawk versus dove, progressive versus conservative. >> i thought that was a direct message to the mullahs and to the people of iran. i spent some time with one family this week. i think he knows that the worst case scenario is war, it always is the worst case scenario and he's hoping somehow we can stop them from weaponizing. >> but chris -- >> nuclear weapons. >> i think this was a forthrightly liberal speech. i think that -- >> you're an eight. >> he said we are a country that doesn't -- that believes that every citizen deserves a decent measure of security and dignity. he talked about that little girl born in bleakest poverty should be able to have security. he said no endless wars. these were all defenses i

think -- >> howard you get first when we come back. we'll come back and rejoin the obama family. there they are, nicorette and all i think. the 57th time america has sworn in a president. coming up, major milestones in inaugurals. one of our producers put this together. a little bit of old america and i got to tell you some brand new america here which is great for all of us. this is "hardball," the place for politics. if there was a pill

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well, this may be the first time we've had such a close-up look at the first family. we've been watching them in the reviewing stand, watching the inaugural parade continue. look at the first lady. they're bopping around having fun. he's chewing we think nicorette to ward off his hinunger for wh

do you call it, nicotine. >> today marks the 57th time we've sworn in a new president. tough watch this tape. it is so much fun. it's done by will rabe. george washington's inauguration was not only a first for our country, but also the first and only to be rescheduled because congress delayed the election. andrew jackson was the first sworn in on the east side of the capitol building and ronald reagan was the first sworn in on the west. the shortest inaugural address was george washington's second while the longest was william henry harrison's who talked for almost two hours in the winter rain. he caught pneumonia and died a month later. six presidents have taken the oath outside washington, george washington first in new york and philadelphia. john adams in philadelphia. chester arthur in new york. teddy roosevelt in buffalo. calvin coolidge in plymouth, vermont, and lbj in dallas. james polk's inauguration was the first to be covered use the telegraph and warren hardings parade was the first to use

cars. james buchanan's inaugural was the first one photographed and william mckinley's what's the first filmed. cal lidge's what's the first on radio and hoover's was the if irs in a movie new reel. the first to be televised was harry truman. lincoln's parade was the first to include african-americans and wilson's was the first to include women. while bad weather moved the ceremony indoors for william howard taft and ronald reagan, grant toughed it out in 16 degrees and jack kennedy in 20 degrees without an overcoat. fdr's inaugust rag was the first held in january after a constitutional amendment moved the date up from manch. finally, more people witnessed barack obama's first than any other event ever held in washington. that was put together by producer will rabe. i love that stuff. fast, lots of information, lots of take home. anyway, up next, the moments we'll still be talking about tomorrow from this historic day and a lot happened today. a lot of pictures of greatness

for america and happiness i think and joy. you're yachingwatching a specia edition of "hardball" live from washington and the second inauguration of president barack obama. i describe myself as a mother, a writer and a performer. i'm also a survivor of ovarian and uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer,

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♪ and the home of the brave >> beyonce and the marine band with the national anthem after president obama's inaugural

address. welcome back to "hardball" for our live coverage of the inaugural parade. the pair rad still goirade stil. with me is eugene robinson, now that he just left, joy reid, michael steele, and howard fineman. also joining us is jonathan alter. jonathan, i don't know, do you want to venture an opinion about the performance and the appearance of beyonce today? i dare to say it's always tricky -- >> when i think of musical criticism i think of jonathan alter. >> i said delightful. i will leave it at that but i thought she was beyond belief. >> she was good. that he was right in my wheel house, chris. but it's interesting because beyonce, also african-american. the reason i mention that is one of the things that struck me today is if in 2009 when he was inaugurated the first time in president obama was jackie robinson breaking into the major leagues, you know, this is

jackie robinson winning a batting title. there's an old word that was used a lot in american life, integration. we talked all the time during our horrible legacy of segregation about the need for integration. today represents the integration of our political tradition. barack obama is now in the american grain, as they say. he is part of our political tradition, and this will be our tradition for the future. so he's just not -- he's not just the face of the president, chris. he is the face of the future of this country demographically in terms of the way we regard ourselves and define ourselves and what we owe each other. and i thought the three critical words of the speech, which he used a few times, was our journey continues. the united states is a work in progress, and he represents

that. >> you know, i was thinking, joy, you have to be careful about all this ethnic stuff but i thought it was a nice blend to the whole picture. it wasn't like a new york state democratic ticket exactly where there has to be one gay and one hispanic and all that. it seemed to be a better blend than the obvious. they did a getter job of putting it all together than most of these tickets -- >> and it felt natural. it felt like this is obama's coalition. you had beyonce and jay-z who were friends of the president. john legend was there. it was sort of an american tapestry but it wasn't forced. >> i agree with that. let's look at our popular culture now. i mean, beyonce is somebody who tron sends racial identification -- >> that's a pop star. >> she's just a star and she looked like the face of -- to me she looked like the face of america. >> right. >> ft. we're luckif we're lucky. >> she's beautiful, talent, rate yant, she exuded confidence and it was like she was saying this

is what america looks like, isn't that a great thing? and i think -- as jonathan said, it is in the american grain. this is who we are, and it's -- it looked like a wonderful thing today. >> did everybody see the movie "places in the heart," sally field's movie? nobody ever sees movies. it was a great movie. at the end of the film there was a scene where you think the movie is over and it has an extra scene and all of a sudden you realize everybody is going to this church service together and they're all mixed up and it's all working together and you go, wait a minute, this is about heaven. this is -- there's the tuskegee airmen meeting with the president. what about the history here? >> they're getting old. >> word war 2 -- world war ii guys. >> they demanded the right to

fly for their country. >> tell me about the hit of those guys as fighter escort with the big super fortresses going over germany. >> initially, they were -- they were determined not just to prove that they could fly but to fly better than anybody else because they were the first black aviators, and they ended up with a sterling record both as escorts and as fighter pilots. >> a lot of aces. >> john alter, you know some history about these guys? >> they flew escort for my father'sb- ae's b-24 as he was 31 missions over nazi germany. i spoke to him earlier today. he is 90 years old and he was weeping over this and everything he has seen in his lifetime. he's the same age as these tuskegee airmen we're seeing. his life was essentially saved by them over nazi germany at

that time. we had segregation in the armed forces but we were starting to integrate. we were starting to move forward in that post-war period, and this is really the realization of the dreams of a lot of americans about a different country than many people fought for over a long period of time, and now we can feel to some extent with all of our problems we've achieved that different america. >> you know, the war was so important in that process because so the many african-americans served in the war in seg guy grate e-- segreg army. my late father-in-law was on the segregated navy on an ammo ship in the south pacific and they came home to a country that did not honor their service the way

it honored the service of white soldiers by treating them as full citizens, and that was an impetus not just for african-americans, but i think for the country, too, to begin to dismantle some jim crow. >> and they came back and said no way. >> yeah, yeah. >> these guys represent that endless journey that i think this country has been on from its founding, and that is, you know, people, however they got here, making the most of the opportunities that they have in front of them, and that's what these airmen did. you know, they were risk takers of a different sort. they weren't highfalutin in business, but they were highfalutin in different parts of our society that were just as important.

i think to connect this bridge to this president taking politics so completely out of it is so important for a 7-year-old or a 15-year-old african-american male, particularly when we see so many of those young men looking down the road and not seeing themselves as a future tuskegee airmen or future president, but instead are right now sitting in the baltimore detention center or otherwise not regarded as a value to our community, and i think that's something that i hope the president in some way addresses a little bit more fundamentally and really talk about to young black men particularly about his role, his legacy for them. >> can i say though, we spent the last week at the "huffington post" looking at the challenges the president faces in the next term, and we found as others have found, that there's a lot of work to be done in terms of

poverty, in terms of education, in terms of health care. and he has made some efforts, but there are a lot of people who think, and not all of them are predictable liberals, who think that as wonderful a symbol as he's been and as elegantly and as sure-footedly he's handled the difficult terrain of race, he's got a lot more to do in terms of dealing with the reality. >> can i tell from you just a visual standpoint watching these pictures now, it strikes me that this at least cosmetically is what dr. king was talking about when he was talking about an america where black and white and brown were sort of all in it together. but beneath that -- at least cosmetically. i was going to say beneath that i think there is still -- >> what about you, joy? i want you to take a look at the picture of the president with his nicorette db.

>> you have given more free publicity to nicorette. >> i think the lightness with which this guy carries his office which is on display is to me stunning. >> and i think that is what the modern presidency is about. i think it's become less and less regal, they've been more accessible, they've been really frankly more like celebrities. >> do you think mitt romney would have been less regal? >> i think that's why mitt romney couldn't win. i think he was from an older america, from an america that really doesn't exist anymore. i think in a lot of ways this president hasn't been able to obviously change everything in four years, but this is the america that a lot of people feared in the '60s, a more integrated america, an america where a young guy like this, a black guy, somebody that no one ever would have imagined could be president and stand there right in that position and i think that's a wonderful thing. >> and he's confident. to be a leader today you have to be confident in public because everybody, especially kids know this, everybody lives their lives fully in public.

unless you're really at ease on the public stage, you can't convey the sense of confidence and identity that's necessary. that was one of the mitt romney's problems. >> i was ill at ease with being mitt romney. >> i feel sorry for dick nixon because he doesn't know which dikts n dick nixon to be. our coverage of barack obama's second inaugural continues after this. this is "hardball," although it doesn't seem like "hardball." it's definitely the place for politics, here we are in washington. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle.

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. mr. vice president? mr. vice president? mr. vice president? hey, how are you doing? come on. come on. they won't let you? are you -- that's it. yeah! all right! yes! yes! >> anyway, that's nbc's al trying to get the attention of vice president biden. and succeeding. dana, today, i watched a vice president running for president. i saw a number of occurrences, sotomayor, of course, being asked to give an oath. all kinds of signs that he might

be interested in running. his kinetic performance on the parade route today is evidence to me he's retailing his way to the presidency. your thoughts? >> unfortunately, the the crowd loved him and also loved hillary. i'm not sure it guarantees him anything. he's really enjoying with the signing in ceremonies on the hill. i'm not so sure he's doing it to campaign. he's doing it because he's joe biden. and he loves doing this stuff and he can't believe he's getting as much attention as he is for doing this. but this is genuine joe biden. >> let's stick to my preface, that he's running. and my premise is the following. if biden and obama made such an overt move to run. i think he's creating what was called new facts. he's creating the fact that i'm running. and then once he does that, hillary, secretary clinton, has

to decide whether she wants it a primary fight. i still think she'll probably run. but is she gaining? and is the president helping him by giving him firearms, all of the decisions he's putting in the guy's hands? isn't there a campaign under way here right now? >> you're asking me, chris? >> i'm asking you. in fact, it was an essay question and you can annals it in full. >> well, i'd like that. i don't dispute the notion that joe biden is laying the predicate to run for president. but i dispute the notion that anything joe biden does is very premeditated, anyway. the guy just lives by the seat of his pants. self discipline is not his strongsest suit. so i think running over to al roker has nothing to do with 2016 and everything with joe biden being a tremendous ham. but, okay, i -- but i accept that he probably is getting ready to run in 2016. and, you know, certainly had we talked about this a couple years

ago, we would not have seen him as really a viable man to be defeating hillary clinton in a primary. the fact that i think people can take that notion seriously now shows that he's gone, you know, from a hero of the onion to a mainstream, serious possibility. >> i think he's almost there. anyway, thaucnk you, dana. he can still get chopped up brutally by "saturday night live." anyway, jason is very tough. anyway, thank you. thank you dana millbank. more coverage coming up with the inaugural parade that continues here on "hardball," the place for politics. we're all having such a great year in the gulf, we've decided to put aside our rivalry. 'cause all our states are great. and now is when the gulf gets even better. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride or just lay in the sun. enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty. and don't forget our amazing seafood. so come to the gulf, you'll have a great time. especially in alabama.

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he was a moderate. >> welcome back to "hardball" on our live coverage. it's very live. there's the president, we're watching the parade as he turned his back to welcome some contributors to the reviewing stand. we're trying to figure out who these people are. they're not celebrities, they're just rich. >> these are the people being ushered if after dark. >> if you don't know who they are, they're rich. >> there's the guy there who's the finance chief for the campaign. he's ushering people in and out. >> a lot of bundlers in that room there that get to say they were at the reviewing of the president. but the delightful thing watching this has been to watch the first family at play,

really, joy, and to see them as, you know, they're obviously well off in terms of their status. they're living in the white house, their father is the president. but there's something really pretty accessible. >> i interviewed craig robinson, michelle obama's brother yesterday, who is the coach at oregon city. he said you know why we seem like the family next door? because we are the family next door. our mom taught us to have self esteem, but to have respect for people. and the way they are is just they're not putting on any affectation. this is just them. >> this is such an american story. it's great. >> although, they're in a surreal situation of being in the white house. >> well, they're real. >> the robinson family is the real african american extreme. they fit the ball. >> is this different than prior inaugural parades where the first family has been in display? i mean, we've seen -- are we seeing the obamas